Elizabeth Dowdall

Elizabeth Dowdall (née Southwell); c. 1590 – after 1642) was a member of the Irish gentry, famed for having defended Kilfinny Castle, County Limerick, against the insurgents during the Irish Rebellion of 1641.

Birth and background

Elizabeth was born about 1590 in England,^[a] probably in Cornworthy, Devon, the only child of Sir Thomas Southwell and his wife, Anne Harris.^[1] Her father's family was from Spixworth in Norfolk.

Elizabeth's mother was an English Calvinist poet. Her father was Thomas Harris (Serjeant-at-Law). Her father's family was from Cornworthy, Devon.^[2] Elizabeth's parents had married at St Clement Danes in London on 24 June 1594.^[3]

Family tree

Elizabeth Dowdall (née Southwell) with her two husbands, her parents, and other selected relatives.^[b]

Thomas
Harris
1547–1610

Connor
3rd Earl
c. 1534 – 1581

John
Dowdall

Thomas
Southwell
c. 1575 – 1626

Anne
Harris
1574–1636
poet

Daniel
1st Viscount
Clare
1577–1666

John
Dowdall
fl. 1623

Elizabeth
Southwell
c. 1600 –
aft. 1642

Donogh
O'Brien
d. 1638
d.v.p.*

Connor
2nd Viscount
1605–1670

Ann
Dowdall

Redmond
Roche
c. 1610 –
aft. 1654

Jane
Dowdall
d. bef. 1638

Honora
Dowdall
d. 1638

Hardress
Waller
c. 1604 – 1666

Elizabeth
Dowdall
d. 1658

Bridget
Dowdall

Jane
Roche

Legend

XXX

Subject of
the article

XXX

Viscounts
Clare

*d.v.p. = predeceased his father (decessit vita patris)

Early life

It is quite well accepted that Elizabeth's father was knighted. However, the person knighted in July 1603 as part of the coronation honours of James I seems to have been her maternal grandfather, Thomas Harris (Serjeant-at-Law),^[4] not her father as has been said.^[5]

Elizabeth's maternal uncle Edward Harris (Irish judge) was sent to Ireland in 1608 and made chief justice of Munster.^[6] He helped his brother-in-law to obtain land at Poulnelong,^[c] County Cork, Ireland as part of the Plantation of Munster,^[10] which had started in 1583 after the Desmond Rebellions ended with the death of Gerald FitzGerald, 14th Earl of Desmond. Elizabeth's uncle Sir Edward Harris played a leading part in this plantation.

First marriage

Elizabeth married Sir John Dowdall, a wealthy settler in County Limerick, Ireland (alive in 1623).^[11]

John and Elizabeth had five daughters:

Anne, married John Southwell of Rathkeale, brother of Sir Thomas Southwell, 1st Baronet, and Anne's fifth cousin three times removed. John was killed by the rebels in 1642 and died childless.^[12] She later married George Piggott, of Kilfinny.^[13]^[14]
Elizabeth (died 1658), married Sir Hardress Waller in 1629^[15]^[16]
Jane (died before 1638), married Redmond Roche as his first wife^[17]
Bridget, married Thomas Casey of Rathcannon, County Limerick^[18]
Honora (died 1638), married Lawrence Dowdall of Mountown, County Meath^[19]^[20]

Father's death and mother's remarriage

Her father died on 12 June 1626 in Ireland.^[1] Her mother remarried Captain Henry Sibthorpe and after two years the new couple moved back to England.^[21] Her mother died on 2 October 1636 in Acton, London, England.^[22]

Second marriage

Elizabeth married secondly Donough, eldest son of Daniel O'Brien, brother of Donogh O'Brien, 4th Earl of Thomond and future (1662) 1st Viscount Clare. Elizabeth appears to have been married to him by 1626.^[1] Donough died on 6 August 1638 in Limerick predeceasing his father.^[23]^[24]

Defence of Kilfinny Castle

Phelim O'Neill launched the Irish Rebellion of 1641 from the northern province of Ulster in October 1641.^[25] The rebellion reached Munster in spring 1642. The rebels attacked the castles of the English settlers. Dowdall defended Kilfinny Castle against the rebels, and is reputed to have hung several of them during the fighting.^[26]^[27]

It is not known what happened to Dowdall after 1642.^[28]

Notes and references

Notes

^ Her birth date is bracketed by her parents' marriage in 1594 and her father's death in 1626.
^ Also see the lists of children in the text.
^ Poulnelong is the modern Ship-pool (or Shippool) in the parish of Leighmoney near Bandon.^[7]^[8]^[9] not near Youghal as has been wrongly stated.^[10]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Caulfield 1879, p. 345, line 1. "Southwell, Sr. Thomas, of Poulnelong, co. Cork, Knt., died June 12, 1626. He mar. [married] Ann dr. [daughter] of Serjeant Harris, and sister to Judge Harris, by whom he had issue an only dr., Elizabeth, first mar. to Sir John Dowdall, Knt., and 2ly to Donogh O'Brien, s. [son] and h. [heir] to Sir Donogh O'Brien, Knt."
^ Colby 1872, p. 139 Harris of Cherston pedigree
^ Klene 2004, p. 704, left column, line 31. "Anne married Thomas Southwell (1575?–1626), of Spixworth, Norfolk, at the church of St Clement, Danes, in London on 24 June 1594."
^ Stow & Howes 1631, p. 826, right column, line 34. "Sir Thomas Harris / Serjeant"
^ Klene 2004, p. 704, left column, line 33. "He [her father] was knighted on 23 July 1603 ..."
^ Ball 1926, p. 329, line 31. "went to Ireland as chif justice of Munster."
^ Anonymous 1846, p. 602. "... the castle and the mansion of Ship-pool ..."
^ NUI Galway, "Landed Estates", 3077. "Ship-pool"
^ Lewis 1840, p. 251. "... River Bandon, on the margin of which are the remains Shippool castle (formerly called Poolnalong) built in 1496 for the Roche family ..."
^ ^a ^b Coolahan 2019, 1st paragraph, 2nd sentence. "... where they became settlers on the Munster plantation, establishing themselves at Poulnelong, near Youghal ..."
^ Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 33. "Sir John Dowdall made a settlement of his estate 25 April 1623 ..."
^ Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 1. "John Southwell of Rathkeale, Esq. who married Anne, eldest daughter and coheir to Sir John Dowdall of Kilfinny in the county of Limerick, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Southwell of Polylong, and being slain by the rebels in 1642, left no issue."
^ Deposition of Anne Southwell^{[permanent dead link]} (1642), 1641 Depositions Online, Trinity College Dublin. (registration required).
^ Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 13. "... Anne re-married with William Piggott, Esq., of Kilfinney, who died 15 years ago ..."
^ Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 21. "Elizabeth [married] before 1630 to Hardress Waller of Castleton in the county of Limerick, Knt.;"
^ McGrath 1997, p. 292. "... m. [married] 1629, Elizabeth, da [daughter] and coh. [co-heir] Sir John Dowdall, Kilfinney, Limerick;"
^ Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 23. "Jane (the first wife of Redmond Roche, Esq. the fifth son of David, Viscount of Fermoy; died before 1638 and had a daughter Jane married to Richard Waller of Dublin, Esq. ...)"
^ Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 27. "Brigid (to Thomas Casey of Rathcannon in the county of Limerick, Esq. whose only child Anne was married to Sir Drury Wray of Glentworth in Lincolnshire, Bart )"
^ Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 30. "Honora, to Lawrence, son and heir to Edward Dowdall of Mountown in Meath, Esq. register of the court of chancery, where she died 2 October 1638, having an only daughter Elizabeth."
^ O'Hart 1892, p. 182. "Sir William Dowdall had: 2. Sir John Dowdall, who had: 3. Sir John Dowdall, of Kilfenny, county Limerick, who had: 4. Honora, his coheir, and who d. [died] 2nd Oct., 1638, and was bur. [buried] in Monktown, co. Meath. She was married to Lawrence Dowdall of Monktown, son and heir of Edward Dowdall, who was Registrar of Chancery."
^ Coolahan 2019, 1st paragraph. "Her father died in 1626, and her mother returned to England with her second husband, Captain Henry Sibthorpe, two years later."
^ Klene 2004, p. 704, right column, line 26. "Lady Southwell ... died in Acton on 2 October 1636 ..."
^ Lodge 1789a, p. 33. " Donough [O'Brien], his heir who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Southwell, of Polylong in the county of Cork, Knt. widow of Sir John Dowdall of Kilfinny, and dying at Limerick 6 August 1638, was buried in St Mary's church in the tomb of his ancestors;"
^ Lodge 1789b, p. 7. ""
^ Perceval-Maxwell 1994, p. 214. "Sir Phelim O'Neill struck in Ulster on the evening of Friday, 22 October [1641], 'the last day of the moon'. He took Dungannon first, and two hours later he was in the possession of the strong castle of Charlemont ..."
^ Women's Lives: Biographies
^ Women's Lives: Fire and Siege
^ Coolahan 2019, 5th and last paragraph. "It is not known whether Dowdall remained in Ireland after October 1642, although she had daughters who did."

Sources

Anonymous (1846). The Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland. Vol. 2. Dublin: A. Fullarton. – D to M (for Ship-pool in Leighmoney parish)
Ball, Francis Elrington (1926). The Judges in Ireland 1221–1921. Vol. I (1st ed.). London: John Murray. OCLC 832154869. – 1221 to 1690
Bourke, Angela, ed. (2002). The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. Vol. 5. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 0-8147-9907-8. – Irish Women’s Writing and Traditions (for Lady Dowdall's narration)
Caulfield, Richard (1879). The Council Book of the Corporation of Kinsale from 1652 to 1800. Guildford, Surrey: J. Billings and Sons. OCLC 1195553289.^{[permanent dead link]}
Cokayne, George Edward (1904). Complete Baronetage, 1611 to 1800. Vol. 4 (1st ed.). Exeter: William Pollard & Co. OCLC 866278985. – 1665 to 1707
Colby, Frederic Thomas, ed. (1872). The Visitation of the County of Devon in the Year 1620. London: The Harleian Society. OCLC 3975627.
Coolahan, Marie-Louise (9 May 2019). "Dowdall [née Southwell], Elizabeth". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Gilbert, John Thomas, ed. (1882b). History of the Irish Confederation and the War in Ireland 1641–1643. Historic literature of Ireland. Vol. 2 (limited to two hundred copies ed.). Dublin: Printed for the editor by M. H. Gill & Son. OCLC 220683699. – Letters, acts, and Lady Dowdall’s narration
Klene, Jean (2004). "Southwell [née Harris], Anne, Lady Southwell (bap. 1574, d. 1636)". In Matthew, Colin; Harrison, Brian (eds.). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 51. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 704. ISBN 0-19-861401-2.
"Ship-pool". National University of Ireland at Galway. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
Lewis, Samuel (1840). A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). London: S. Lewis & Co. – G to Z (for Ship-pool)
Lodge, John (1789a). Archdall, Mervyn (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. 2. Dublin: James Moore. OCLC 264906028. – Earls 228
Lodge, John (1789b). Archdall, Mervyn (ed.). The Peerage of Ireland or, A Genealogical History of the Present Nobility of that Kingdom. Vol. 6. Dublin: James Moore. OCLC 264906028. – Viscounts, barons (under Southwell)
McGrath, Brid (1997). "Hardress Waller (?1604–1666) Limerick County". A Biographical Dictionary of the Membership of the Irish House of Commons 1640 to 1641 (PhD). Vol. 1. Dublin: Trinity College. pp. 292–295. hdl:2262/77206. – Parliaments & Biographies (PDF downloadable from given URL)
O'Hart, John (1892). Irish Pedigrees: Or, the Origin and Stem of the Irish Nation. Vol. 2 (5th ed.). Dublin: James Duffy & Co. OCLC 7239210. – Normans, English, Huguenots etc.
Perceval-Maxwell, Michael (1994). The Outbreak of the Irish Rebellion of 1641. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press. ISBN 0-7735-1157-1. – Preview
Stow, John; Howes, Emund (1631). Annales, Or, A Generall Chronicle of England. London: Richard Meighen. OCLC 123210534.

[1] Her birth date is bracketed by her parents' marriage in 1594 and her father's death in 1626.

[5] Also see the lists of children in the text.

[13] Poulnelong is the modern Ship-pool (or Shippool) in the parish of Leighmoney near Bandon.^[7]^[8]^[9] not near Youghal as has been wrongly stated.^[10]

[FOOTNOTECaulfield1879[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidV6ZNAQAAIAAJpgPA345_345,_line_1]-2] Caulfield 1879, p. 345, line 1. "Southwell, Sr. Thomas, of Poulnelong, co. Cork, Knt., died June 12, 1626. He mar. [married] Ann dr. [daughter] of Serjeant Harris, and sister to Judge Harris, by whom he had issue an only dr., Elizabeth, first mar. to Sir John Dowdall, Knt., and 2ly to Donogh O'Brien, s. [son] and h. [heir] to Sir Donogh O'Brien, Knt."

[FOOTNOTEColby1872[httpsarchiveorgdetailsvisitationcount02camdgoogpagen158_139_]-3] Colby 1872, p. 139 Harris of Cherston pedigree

[FOOTNOTEKlene2004[httpsarchiveorgdetailsisbn_0198614012page704_704,_left_column,_line_31]-4] Klene 2004, p. 704, left column, line 31. "Anne married Thomas Southwell (1575?–1626), of Spixworth, Norfolk, at the church of St Clement, Danes, in London on 24 June 1594."

[FOOTNOTEStowHowes1631[httpsarchiveorgdetailsb30330300page826_826,_right_column,_line_34-6] Stow & Howes 1631, p. 826, right column, line 34. "Sir Thomas Harris / Serjeant"

[FOOTNOTEKlene2004[httpsarchiveorgdetailsisbn_0198614012page704_704,_left_column,_line_33]-7] Klene 2004, p. 704, left column, line 33. "He [her father] was knighted on 23 July 1603 ..."

[FOOTNOTEBall1926[httpsarchiveorgdetailsjudgesinireland10000unsepage329_329,_line_31]-8] Ball 1926, p. 329, line 31. "went to Ireland as chif justice of Munster."

[FOOTNOTEAnonymous1846[httpsbooksgooglecombooksid4iK5_B7W1xICpgPA602_602]-9] Anonymous 1846, p. 602. "... the castle and the mansion of Ship-pool ..."

[FOOTNOTENUI_Galway,_"Landed_Estates"[httplandedestatesnuigalwayieLandedEstatesjspproperty-showjspid3077_3077]-10] NUI Galway, "Landed Estates", 3077. "Ship-pool"

[FOOTNOTELewis1840[httpsarchiveorgdetailsb22012333_0002page251_251]-11] Lewis 1840, p. 251. "... River Bandon, on the margin of which are the remains Shippool castle (formerly called Poolnalong) built in 1496 for the Roche family ..."

[FOOTNOTECoolahan20191st_paragraph,_2nd_sentence-12] Coolahan 2019, 1st paragraph, 2nd sentence. "... where they became settlers on the Munster plantation, establishing themselves at Poulnelong, near Youghal ..."

[FOOTNOTELodge1789b[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland06lodgpage16_16,_line_33]-14] Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 33. "Sir John Dowdall made a settlement of his estate 25 April 1623 ..."

[FOOTNOTELodge1789b[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland06lodgpage16_16,_line_1]-15] Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 1. "John Southwell of Rathkeale, Esq. who married Anne, eldest daughter and coheir to Sir John Dowdall of Kilfinny in the county of Limerick, by his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Southwell of Polylong, and being slain by the rebels in 1642, left no issue."

[16] Deposition of Anne Southwell^{[permanent dead link]} (1642), 1641 Depositions Online, Trinity College Dublin. (registration required).

[FOOTNOTELodge1789b[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland06lodgpage16_16,_line_13]-17] Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 13. "... Anne re-married with William Piggott, Esq., of Kilfinney, who died 15 years ago ..."

[FOOTNOTELodge1789b[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland06lodgpage16_16,_line_21]-18] Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 21. "Elizabeth [married] before 1630 to Hardress Waller of Castleton in the county of Limerick, Knt.;"

[FOOTNOTEMcGrath1997292-19] McGrath 1997, p. 292. "... m. [married] 1629, Elizabeth, da [daughter] and coh. [co-heir] Sir John Dowdall, Kilfinney, Limerick;"

[FOOTNOTELodge1789b[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland06lodgpage16_16,_line_23]-20] Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 23. "Jane (the first wife of Redmond Roche, Esq. the fifth son of David, Viscount of Fermoy; died before 1638 and had a daughter Jane married to Richard Waller of Dublin, Esq. ...)"

[FOOTNOTELodge1789b[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland06lodgpage16_16,_line_27]-21] Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 27. "Brigid (to Thomas Casey of Rathcannon in the county of Limerick, Esq. whose only child Anne was married to Sir Drury Wray of Glentworth in Lincolnshire, Bart )"

[FOOTNOTELodge1789b[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland06lodgpage16_16,_line_30]-22] Lodge 1789b, p. 16, line 30. "Honora, to Lawrence, son and heir to Edward Dowdall of Mountown in Meath, Esq. register of the court of chancery, where she died 2 October 1638, having an only daughter Elizabeth."

[FOOTNOTEO'Hart1892[httpsarchiveorgdetailsirishpedigreesor02oharpage182_182]-23] O'Hart 1892, p. 182. "Sir William Dowdall had: 2. Sir John Dowdall, who had: 3. Sir John Dowdall, of Kilfenny, county Limerick, who had: 4. Honora, his coheir, and who d. [died] 2nd Oct., 1638, and was bur. [buried] in Monktown, co. Meath. She was married to Lawrence Dowdall of Monktown, son and heir of Edward Dowdall, who was Registrar of Chancery."

[FOOTNOTECoolahan20191st_paragraph-24] Coolahan 2019, 1st paragraph. "Her father died in 1626, and her mother returned to England with her second husband, Captain Henry Sibthorpe, two years later."

[FOOTNOTEKlene2004[httpsarchiveorgdetailsisbn_0198614012page704_704,_right_column,_line_26]-25] Klene 2004, p. 704, right column, line 26. "Lady Southwell ... died in Acton on 2 October 1636 ..."

[FOOTNOTELodge1789a[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland02lodgpage33_33]-26] Lodge 1789a, p. 33. " Donough [O'Brien], his heir who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Thomas Southwell, of Polylong in the county of Cork, Knt. widow of Sir John Dowdall of Kilfinny, and dying at Limerick 6 August 1638, was buried in St Mary's church in the tomb of his ancestors;"

[FOOTNOTELodge1789b[httpsarchiveorgdetailspeerageofireland06lodgpage7_7]-27] Lodge 1789b, p. 7. ""

[FOOTNOTEPerceval-Maxwell1994[httpsbooksgooglecombooksidOxfmaKA5L_0CpgPA214_214]-28] Perceval-Maxwell 1994, p. 214. "Sir Phelim O'Neill struck in Ulster on the evening of Friday, 22 October [1641], 'the last day of the moon'. He took Dungannon first, and two hours later he was in the possession of the strong castle of Charlemont ..."

[29] Women's Lives: Biographies

[30] Women's Lives: Fire and Siege

[FOOTNOTECoolahan20195th_and_last_paragraph-31] Coolahan 2019, 5th and last paragraph. "It is not known whether Dowdall remained in Ireland after October 1642, although she had daughters who did."

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